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Homes blueprint is put on hold
A BLUEPRINT for future housing growth in Hailsham, Hellingly and Herstmonceux has been delayed.
Up to 11,000 new houses need to be built in Wealden by 2026 and the district council is developing a Core Strategy to decide how they should be distributed.
It put its initial plans to the public during an eight-week consultation earlier this year and more than 1,000 responses were received.
The final Core Strategy was due to be put to councillors in May 2010 - but as this is likely to clash with the general election, it has been put back to September.
Councillor Roy Galley, cabinet member for strategic planning and housing delivery, explained the decision.
He said, "The Core Strategy will form the major plank of our planning policy for the next 20 years.
"At the time when we would have been having a full public discussion about it, we are likely to be in the middle of a general election campaign.
"Protocols governing council publicity during an election period make it very difficult to keep the public fully informed of the debate taking place.
"This would have placed us in a very difficult position and, combined with the need to gather more information from infrastructure providers, it means we have no option but to revise our timetable."
The Core Strategy will first be discussed at a joint meeting of the council's two planning committees in July before going to the cabinet for approval at the beginning of September. This approval will then have to be ratified by full council on September 29.
The final Core Strategy will be published in October 2010 before being submitted to the government's planning inspectorate for examination early in 2011, when people will have six weeks to make further representations.
The inspectorate will then issue its report, which will be binding upon the council, and the plan would be formally adopted later during 2011.
The Core Strategy is based on a wide range of studies, including the Shaping Wealden's Future consultation which took place during the summer.
It will identify the broad locations and levels of growth in Wealden's towns and villages, including where housing and business development may take place.
More detailed policies, which are likely to identify specific sites for housing development, will be drawn up in later documents supporting the Core Strategy.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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